Archived: The Dental Practice

Updated 12 November 2015

The inspection took place on 28 September 2015. The inspection included a CQC inspector and specialist dental advisor.

Prior to the inspection we asked the practice to send us some information which we reviewed. This included the complaints they had received in the last 12 months, their latest statement of purpose, the details of their staff members and their qualifications and proof of registration with their professional bodies. We also reviewed the information we held about the practice.

We informed NHS England area team that we were inspecting the practice; however we did not receive any information of concern from them.

During the inspection we spoke with the dentist (provider), two dental nurses and the practice manager. We reviewed policies, procedures and other documents. We also spoke with three patients and reviewed 51 CQC comment cards that we had left prior to the inspection, for patients to complete, about the services provided at the practice.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive to people’s needs?
• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection.

Updated 12 November 2015

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 21 September 2015 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

The Dental Practice provides treatment to private patients with some NHS work for children under 18. The staff structure consists of one dentist, three part time dental nurses and a practice manager.

The practice was open from 9.00am to 17:45pm Monday to Friday. The practice was closed from 13:00 to 14:00 pm each day for lunch.

The practice is housed in a converted property across two floors. The reception, waiting area and treatment room are on the ground floor with a decontamination room on the first floor.

CQC received feedback from two people during the visit about the service. All the comments we received were positive about the service and patients felt that the staff were caring and took time to explain their treatment options and the costs involved. Patients had recommended the practice to family and friends. We received 51 responses from our own survey and the responses were positive with many complimentary comments and confirmation that the practice team were consistently good.

We saw that patients completed the practices own survey and the practice encouraged responses from family and friends survey. The results confirmed that overall patients were happy with the treatment received and would recommend the practice to others.

We found that this practice overall was providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

However there were areas where the provider could make improvements and should:

• Ensure all recruitment records are in place.